Tom Yum (Thai Hot and Sour Soup)

Description

Tom Yum Goong recipe for a Thai spicy hot and sour soup that’s addictively comforting. This recipe includes shrimp, vegetables and glass noodles to make it into a heartier more filling soup that can be eaten as a meal as well.

Instructions

Preparation

Soak the glass noodles in room temperature water for 10 minutes and then drain and set aside.

(Optional) Devein the shrimp and set aside

Cut the vegetables and mushroom into bite-sized pieces and set aside

Making the Tom Yum Soup

Rip the kaffir lime leaves in half and place it in the soup pot

Slice the onions and roughly chop the garlic and place it in the soup pot

Remove the first layer of the lemongrass and cut them into large chunks. Use the back of your knife or something blunt like a rolling pin to smash it to release the oils. Place them in the pot

Cut the chilies in half and place them in the pot

Slice the galangal and place it in the pot

Add the broth and water into the pot and set the pot on medium-high heat until it starts to boil

Once it starts to boil, adjust the heat to medium-low heat and put a lid on it. Simmer it for 30 minutes

Putting It Together

Once 30 minutes is up, taste the broth. It shouldn’t have any saltiness to it but it should have some lemongrass or lime leaves flavor. If it doesn’t, cook it for another 15 minutes.

Once you have finished cooking the broth, remove all the spices and aromatics. They are not meant to be eaten, only to flavor the soup.

Turn the heat back up to medium

Add in the chili paste and stir it until it dissolves.

Once the chili paste has dissolved, put in the vegetables and mushrooms and cook them for 1 minute.

Add in the shrimp and cook it for 1 minute. (Careful not to overcook it. Shrimp cooks very quickly, as long as it is fully thawed.)

Turn off the heat

Add in the fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. Stir and taste. Adjust it to your liking. (Add more lime juice if you like it more sour etc)

Place the glass noodles in a serving bowl and ladle the piping hot soup into the bowl to cover the noodles. The heat will cook it. Let it soak up the soup for a few minutes.

Enjoy! 🙂

Notes

When shopping locally for Nam Prik Pao, there might not be a lot of brands that have English on it and the majority of them will not say ‘Nam Prik Pao’ on the label in English. Look for jars that say ‘Chili Paste’ or ‘Chilli Paste in Oil’. It should contain tamarind, shrimp/anchovy/fish sauce, and chilies in the ingredients list.

Depending on what brand of chili paste you buy (Nam Prik Pao), they come with varying spiciness level. I bought one that was super spicy, and I added about 4 additional fresh chilies in the broth and it was CRAZY spicy. If you can’t tolerate foods that are super spicy, make sure you do a taste test of the broth before you put in the chili paste – and only add the chili paste 1/2 a tablespoon at a time doing a taste test each time until you reach 1 1/2 tablespoons of chili paste.

If you are using frozen shrimp, make sure you thaw it completely before cooking it. It is very easy to overcook shrimp if it is still frozen.

For this recipe, you will need fresh lemongrass stalks. You can use frozen lemongrass as well but they usually come pre-chopped and are quite hard to fish out or strain so I don’t recommend it unless you absolutely have to, make sure to strain it out very well. I don’t recommend using lemongrass powder for this soup.

I personally think it is very difficult to substitute kaffir lime leaves so if you can’t find it, then add an extra stalk of lemongrass instead.

Galangal has a fresh and pine-needle flavor and scent and is hard to substitute. If you cannot find it, omit it. Do not substitute it with ginger since it has a completely different flavor.

Extra fresh kaffir lime leaves and galangal can be stored in the freezer in a ziplock bag and can be kept for a few months